Fiqh: Where do our calculations for Mahr come from?

2,147 people read this post.

read time: 2min

Cii Radio | 21 Jumadal Ula 1437/02 March 2016

As the need arises, Muslims considering doing the nuptials scan the wires for the latest ‘Islamic economic indicators’ that provide them with updated figures on what should typically be paid as Mahr to start off one’s marriage the Sunnah way.

The mahr, often misleadingly called “dowry”, is defined as the “money or property etc. a husband must pay a woman at the time of Nikah to marry her [i.e. his wife-to-be].

Whilst these figures today are readily available from Ulama bodies who do all the background research and calculations for the public, it remains a worthwhile exercise to understand how the scholars arrive at such amounts.

In his weekly Fiqh lesson on Cii Radio, Mufti AK Hoosen explained the nuts and bolts of Mahr determination.

Many of the calculations centre around the Dirham, or a classical silver coin said to weigh approximately 3.1 grams